I came across this essay I wrote in the fall of 2019. I was looking forward to a rite of passage, so to speak. Little did middle school Marie know that the world would shut down soon and the Summer String Festival would be on hold. Today I am returning to the festival as a counselor. This will be my last summer participating as a high school student and a kid. An era is closing, but before it does, I wanted to share where I was with music before the world changed.
My favorite musical work of art is St. Paul’s Suite by Gustav Holst. Finished in 1913 but not actually published until 1922. St. Paul’s Suite is an amazing, multi-movement classical piece written for string orchestras. I love this piece because of the impression it made on me when I was young, before I even knew the name of the piece. It was a total mystery to me.
I remember hearing it for the first time during the summer between first and second grade. The camp counselors at my String Festival would play it with so much emotion and energy. They seemed to experience so much joy and excitement with every note. This had an enormous impact on me, even though I had no idea what they were playing. For years, I would stop in my tracks whenever I would hear the melody.
I’ve always loved hearing this song and couldn’t wait for the day that I would hear it again. It was a mystery for me to solve. It wasn’t until last year I finally figured out the name of the piece, and now I listen to it over and over and over again. https://youtu.be/pRRtmrjWsPE
Something really special about St. Paul’s Suite is the form of the piece. St. Paul suite is broken up into four movements: I. the Jig (or Vivace), II. Ostinato (or Presto), III. Intermezzo (or Andante), and IV. Finale (the Dargason or Allegro) and it is long.
The first movement, known as the Jig, is one of the most energetic parts of the song, and it is what comes to mind when I think of this piece. This 3-minute movement has so much color, and the dynamics in each movement really put you in whatever place you want to imagine. I imagine I am in twentieth-century Austria during the hottest days of the summer.
The next two movements are the Ostinato and Intermezzo. These movements are the quietest and most calming parts of the piece, but it still contains so much color. There are a couple spurts of a louder tune picking up within these two movements, but it is mostly a quieter and softer section that helps bring contrast to the entire piece.
There is a nice blend and build-up from the Intermezzo to the Finale. This part is also very energetic, and I can almost imagine an energetic conductor with wild hair and sweating from having to work hard to deliver an epic performance. Starting from a very energetic yet soft start to this movement, the finale gradually builds up to tie the entire song together.
I really believe the amount of energy within the first movement and the last movement is what makes this so popular. The contrast of two energetic and fast-paced movements and two quieter movements helps give the piece body. It’s important that a piece with many movements have some contrast or distinct “personalities” —one of a more extroverted personality versus a more introverted one. A piece with multiple movements that are completely loud or forte, or a piece that is completely soft or piano, doesn’t show as much contrast when lined up with the rest of the piece, and it would probably be boring. The magic is in the diversity within the piece.
Ever since I was in the first grade, I have heard and seen St. Paul Suite played by so many different kids and adults at my school and camp. I can hum the melody and guess some of the fingers, but I still haven’t learned the piece. It used to be something that was understandably too hard for me. It’s an amazing song but not a great choice for a ten-year-old with a violin. But now that I’ve switched to the viola and my skill level has gone up dramatically, I often think about picking up my viola and finding sheet music for it in order to learn it on my own.
Even though I would love to learn to play St. Paul’s Suite now, I know I would enjoy waiting until next summer so much more. At next summer’s String Festival, it will be my turn to play the song when I am finally a counselor, the same way that I’ve seen other counselors play as I’ve grown up —some things are worth waiting for. And hopefully, there will be another kid like me who will see me with the rest of the orchestra playing this amazing piece and be just as intrigued and inspired as I was.
